For the first time, the ruling BJP has fielded 437 candidates in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and perhaps the highest number of seats more than its principal rival Congress.
Whereas, the Congress has announced candidates for 423 seats and is likely to announce a few more candidates in the next few days. However, it is unlikely that its number of candidates will surpass that of the BJP.
In 2014, the BJP had contested 427 seats and won 282 of them, while the Congress had bagged just 44 out of its 450 seats.
Political observers say the BJP contesting on more seats than the Congress as a result of its expansion across the country post 2014.
Moreover, a higher number of BJP candidates are contesting since the BJP has no alliances in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
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As the TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu severed ties with the NDA, the saffron party is contesting all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The BJP is, however, contesting fewer seats in Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam because of alliances. Similarly, the grand old party is contesting on less number of seats than the BJP this time because it has allied with more parties as compared to 2014.
In Karnataka, where the Congress had contested on all seats in 2014, is now in alliance in with the JD(S). The party has expanded its alliance in Bihar with the entry of new partners.